Settop box market growth, slows in 2001.................
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Strategy Analytics Predicts Slower Digital Set-Top Box Sales - 3/1/2001
Digital set-top box manufacturers and component suppliers should prepare for slower sales growth this year, according to the latest forecasts from industry consultants, Strategy Analytics. New digital TV set-top box installations in 2000 reached 27.5 million units worldwide, a growth rate of 51 percent. This year’s volume is predicted to reach 34.2 million units, equivalent to 24 percent growth. The slowdown is blamed partly on the “Sky” effect: the digital transition of BSkyB’s UK operation is nearly complete, and fewer set-top boxes will be needed during the coming year.
These conclusions are presented in a study entitled “Interactive Digital Television: Worldwide Market Forecasts” and published recently by Strategy Analytics within its strategic advisory service, The Interactive Home. The UK is the only country in the world where demand for digital set-top boxes will fall this year. UK sales will decline from 3.8 million boxes in 2000 to 3.2 million this year (including all platforms, cable, satellite and terrestrial).
The U.S. market will also see a sharp slowdown this year, with the growth rate falling from 53 percent to 19 percent, as demand for digital satellite systems falls back from its exceptional performance in 2000, when it added a net 3.8 million new households. Total set-top box sales in the US in 2001 are expected to reach 17.1 million units.
Worldwide in 2001, Strategy Analytics predicts that cable will account for 37 percent of digital set-top box sales, satellite 60 percent and terrestrial 3 percent.
“Set-top box manufacturers and their component suppliers have had a few good strong years,” says David Mercer, VP, consumer practice at Strategy Analytics. “But 2001 looks like showing the slowest growth since sales began, and budgets should be set accordingly.”
The analysts predict that one consequence of the slowdown will increased pressure on the set-top box industry to consolidate. “We could see one or two mergers or acquisitions before the year’s out,” suggests Mercer. |
